"Medical examinations carried out before Ahli's visit to Tunisia proved that Gilberto does not have any injury problems," Al-Badri told the club's official website on Thursday.

"We opted to leave him out because he didn't take part in the team's latest training session so he wasn't ready for the crunch meeting."

The former Petro Atletico man was surprisingly excluded from Ahli's 19-man squad for the CAF Champions League final first-leg against Etoile.

It had been feared that Gilberto, who underwent two surgeries to repair an Achilles tendon rupture over the past two years, would face another lengthy spell on the sidelines.

However, Al-Badri insists that the 25-year-old will be available for the second-leg against Etoile on the ninth of November.

Ahmed Shedid, Mohamed Barakat or Ahmed Al-Sayed will fill in for Gilberto as Ahli aim to win an unprecedented third successive Champions League.